The invention relates generally to keno games in live form or as played on an electronic gaming device. In electronic form, keno games are deployed on electronic gaming machines (“EGMs”) for use in gaming establishments that are adapted to offer a variety of game types including slot games, video poker games, and other types of wagering games that are commonly deployed at a casino, the bar area of a restaurant, a convenience store or other location where EGMs are in operation for use by players. In particular, the keno game of the present invention permits a player to play multiple keno cards (or tickets) where the player replicates number selections from a primary or first game card into one or more secondary or later game cards. Any numbers selected in a first draw cycle that match those selected by the player are replicated on each of the secondary cards prior to a second draw cycle taking place.
Keno is a standard wagering game where a pool of numbers (usually 80) is used. In live keno, each number in the pool of numbers is represented on a ball in a set of balls which are placed in an enclosure and then selected at random one at time. Once a ball is drawn from the pool it is removed until the end of the game. The selected balls form a set of winning numbers.
There are typically 20 balls drawn from the full set of 80 balls. Players wager on the balls to be chosen by marking the numbers or “spots” on a keno card or ticket. The keno tickets are usually preprinted with a 10×8 matrix of numbered spots from 1 to 80. The player may mark any number of spots up to 20 with the probability of hitting the selected numbers decreasing as the number of selections increases all the way up to the maximum. The player turns in his card to a keno station where he receives a receipt showing the numbers selected and the amount of the wager. After all players submit their wager, the balls are drawn one by one and the players watch the drawing to determine how many “hits” they get from their particular group of selected spots. Once all 20 numbers are drawn, the player is paid on his wager based on an established paytable for the total correct spots selected. Each casino may offer different paytables for the drawing as well as specialty keno bets that may be based on the order of the selected numbers, the pattern of the selections on the card or any number of other variants. Many casinos also pay where a player selects 20 spots and none of the spots are registered as hits. In a live version of the game, any number of players may place a wager and participate in the game. There may be no winners or there may be multiple winners, each being paid according to the established paytable. The term “catch” is used to describe a winning ticket with the total number of hits on that ticket.
Keno paytables are based on the probabilities of a particular number of hits for a game which varies depending on the number of spots initially marked by the player. For example, in a 20 ball draw with 20 spots marked by the player, the number of hits to the odds of successfully catching the number of hits is as follows:
HitsOdds01 in 843.380 (0.11857057%)11 in 86.446 (1.15678605%)21 in 20.115 (4.97142576%)31 in 8.009 (12.48637168%)41 in 4.877 (20.50318987%)51 in 4.267 (23.32607380%)61 in 5.258 (19.01745147%)71 in 6.826 (11.32954556%)81 in 20.055 (4.98618021%)91 in 61.420 (1.62814048%)101 in 253.801 (0.39401000%)111 in 1,423.822 (0.07023351%)121 in 10,968.701 (0.00911685%)131 in 118,084.920 (0.00064685%)141 in 1,821,881.628 (0.00005489%)151 in 41,751,453.986 (0.00000240%)161 in 1,496,372,110.872 (0.00000007%)171 in 90,624,035,964.712181 in 10,512,388,171,906.553191 in 2,946,096,785,176,811.500201 in 3,535,316,142,212,173,800.000
As can be seen in this table1, the probability of hitting 5 of 20 is the highest among the 20 possible numbers available. Typical casino paytables reflect this fact paying a small amount for a low number of hits with escalating payouts for greater numbers of hits. Despite the fact that it is difficult to get “0” or “1” hits, most casino paytables start payouts at a certain number of hits and escalate the payout for a greater number of hits. For example, if five spots are marked, the player will be paid an increasing amount for each of 3, 4 or 5 hits, but not for 0, 1 or 2 hits. Marking ten spots may only pay an award for 5 or more hits. Any card with four or less pays nothing. 1Wikipedia—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keno
In an electronic version of keno, a single player plays against an EGM. Play on the EGMs typically requires the player to place a wager on the outcome of a random selection of spots on a card where the card is represented as a video image on the display of the EGM. An example of a prior art keno game on a video screen 105 is shown in FIG. 1A. A game card 10 with spots numbered 1-80 is shown in a 10×8 matrix. The player chooses his spots using the touchscreen controls on the EGM display. The games are programmed with a random number generator (“RNG”; see FIG. 3) to randomly generate outcomes and compare those outcomes to a predefined set of possible winning combinations and paytable amounts. The player is awarded for a winning outcome and receives no award for a losing outcome.
In a keno game shown in the example of FIG. 1A, a player may mark up to 15 spots by touching the numbered places or spots on the screen. To unmark a spot that has been mistakenly selected, the player need only touch the marked spot again. Marked spots are highlighted as shown in FIG. 1B which shows game card 10 after the player has completed the spot selection process. It is possible for a player to make a “quick pick” for his any number of spot selections by using the “quick pick” buttons 35 in which case the EGM will automatically pick the selected number of random spots from the 80 shown.
As spots are marked, table 15 is updated to reflect the appropriate paytable for the number of picks selected. In the example game shown in FIGS. 1A-1C, the player picks 15 numbers and has the opportunity to win a prize ranging from $2 for picking 6 correct numbers up to $1 million for picking 15 correct numbers. Once all 15 spots have been selected by the player, the spots are locked in and the EGM begins the process of selecting the winning numbers.
FIG. 1C is a screenshot of display 105 after completion of the game where 20 balls are shown below matrix 10 representing the winning numbers. As each number is picked, a ball with that number enters screen 105 on the right side and rolls across to the left until it stops next to any previously selected balls. For each number selected that matches a player selection, a hit is recorded on game card 10 by showing a highlighted circle around the number. Numbers selected that do not match a player selection are shown with an “X” on card 10. At the bottom of screen 105, a number of meters and game play buttons appear in an information bar 17 including a balance meter 25, a wager amount 30 that can be increased or decreased using arrows 30u and 30d, a quick pick selector area 35 which lets any number of quick picks numbers be selected from 1 to 15, a clear button 40 for clearing a card where the player wants to reselect numbers, a repeat button 45 which lets the player repeat number selections from a previous game, a play button 50, an auto-play button 55 which lets the player play multiple games without manually selecting until the balance is used up, and a win meter 60 for showing the winning amount for a game card after play of a game has been completed.
There are different variations of keno that are available on an EGM. In Nevada, keno games always have a minimum draw of 20 numbers and the number of player selected picks is usually limited to a maximum of 10. There are also many variations in how the game is played. For example, there is a game known as Four Card keno in which the player plays four cards simultaneously in the same game. The player may select a different set of spots for each of the four cards. After the wager is placed, a 20 number draw is made and applied to each of the four cards. Each of the four cards is then evaluated to determine if it is a winner based on the number of spots hit (or caught) on each card. If so, the player is paid an award. By playing four cards in the same game, the player has an increased likelihood of having at least one winning card during each 20 number draw, and possibly up to four winning cards on a single 20 number draw.
Other keno variants are also known such as a “way” ticket. Using a way ticket, a player may play multiple spots on multiple cards with predefined groupings of winning numbers. For example, a seven way ticket may be used across three groupings (e.g. Group I, Group II and Group III) of spots of three spots each. The player places seven wagers and is eligible to paid winnings if the any of the groupings are winners: (1) all three spots in Group I; (2) all three spots in Group II; (3) all three spots in Group III; (4) six spots including Group I and Group II; (5) six spots including Group I and Group III; (6) six spots including Group II and Group III; and (7) nine spots including Group I, Group II and Group III. There are multiple variations of way ticket games and any particular way ticket design is at the discretion of the designer.
Historically, the variations of game play for keno has been appealing to players even though there are typically more losing cards than winning cards. As with all wagering games, the game designers and operators of keno games are always striving to find appealing features and game functionality that will generate player excitement and increase, or at least maintain the interest of the player. This is particularly important for a player who has a group of numbers that he believes is lucky or that is due for a hit.
The present invention defines a method of game play and an apparatus that provides more excitement and maintains the interest of the player in the play of keno games. It does so by offering an opportunity to replicate hits from one keno card to one or more additional keno cards wagered on by the player. Like other keno games played in a live format or on an EGM, the player places an initial wager to play. The player selects a set of numbers to play. A random number generator (“RNG”) generates a series of outcomes for a particular game that corresponds to a set of selected winning numbers for that game. The player selected numbers are then compared to the selected winning numbers for each marked on a play card. In the event the marked numbers match enough of the selected winning numbers to produce a winning card, the player is awarded a prize in accordance with the paytable. The present invention makes the game more fun and exciting by replicating one or more hits from a primary or first card available for play onto one or more secondary or later cards. The player's probability of a win on the later cards increases because one or more hits are automatically preset on the later cards. This generates more excitement for the player during game play.